MakeMusic, Inc. and Hal Leonard Corporation Announce Joint Development Plan
Agreement Dramatically Increases Offering of Contemporary Songs for SmartMusic Featuring the World's Most Popular Music
Minneapolis - March 5, 2012 - MakeMusic, Inc. (NASDAQ: MMUS), creators of SmartMusic interactive music learning software for band, orchestra and voice, today announced it has signed an agreement with Hal Leonard Corporation, the world's largest music print publisher.
Under the agreement terms, MakeMusic will dramatically expand its SmartMusic music library to include many of the most popular songs of the 20th century and today's contemporary hits. For the first time ever, those songs will be available for purchase from within the SmartMusic application.
This agreement represents a new era of joint development between Hal Leonard Corporation and MakeMusic, said MakeMusic CEO Karen van Lith, noting that the company's goal is to create a new delivery and sales platform for digital music content.
We're excited about how this new agreement with Hal Leonard will enable current SmartMusic subscribers and future music-makers to acquire their favorite pop compositions the way they want them - enhanced by the robust SmartMusic functionality they've come to depend on, said van Lith.
Hal Leonard President Larry Morton said, We're proud and pleased to provide many of the world's most popular, best-loved songs for MakeMusic to offer its SmartMusic subscribers under an exciting new business model. We're closely integrating our production processes which will benefit both companies, our songwriters, publisher partners and student musicians alike.
Hal Leonard represents in print many well-known artists including The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Justin Bieber, Mariah Carey, Eric Clapton, Kelly Clarkson, Coldplay, Jimi Hendrix, Billy Joel, Elton John, Tom Petty, Pink Floyd, Elvis Presley, Queen, Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, U2, The Who, Stevie Wonder and hundreds of others, plus the music of Irving Berlin, the Walt Disney Company, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Motown, Glee and Rodgers & Hammerstein.
For more than 14 years, educators and students have loved how SmartMusic software provides a powerful, unique music learning experience by incorporating professional background accompaniment, displaying music notation, recording students' music assignments and providing instant feedback and assessment. Now, in addition to the thousands of titles already represented in SmartMusic and available to subscribers, users will have access to the most popular, fun titles from major music publishers and Hal Leonard on a pay-per-title basis. SmartMusic is used by more than 10,000 schools, colleges and university music programs in North America.
Van Lith notes that the Hal Leonard partnership further positions SmartMusic as the category leader, allowing MakeMusic to more deeply penetrate the large and growing community of music learners everywhere.
More details about SmartMusic can be found at http://www.finalemusic.com.
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About MakeMusic, Inc.
MakeMusic, Inc. is a world leader in music technology whose mission is to develop and market solutions that transform how music is composed, taught, learned and performed. For more than 20 years, Finale has been the industry standard in music notation software, enabling composers, arrangers, musicians, teachers, students and publishers to create, edit, audition, print and publish musical scores. MakeMusic is also the creator of SmartMusic education software that is transforming the way students practice. With SmartMusic, students and teachers have access to thousands of band, orchestra and vocal pieces allowing students to practice with background accompaniment and get immediate feedback on their performance. SmartMusic allows teachers to individualize instruction and document the progress of every student. The SmartMusic Inbox, an Android and Apple mobile application, provides additional access for teachers to review, grade and comment on student assignments. MusicXML is an Internet-friendly way to publish musical scores, enabling musicians to distribute interactive sheet music online and to use sheet music files with a wide variety of musical applications. Garritan sound libraries provide musicians with state-of-the-art virtual instruments with the playback quality of a live performance. Additional information about this Minnesota company can be found at www.makemusic.com.
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